Specifications:This is the definitive lightweight, compact telephoto macro zoom with a maximum magnification ratio of 1:2 at the 300mm setting -- ideal for shooting subjects that are difficult to approach such as sporting and theatrical events. The lens also features special effects such as the capability to provide beautifully blurred backgrounds to highlight the main subject in protraiture, or "compression effects" that make the most of the telephoto lens. By switching to maco mode, subjects as close as 0.95m can be shot within the focal range of 180-300mm, for true macro photography. The optical system incorporates a LD (Low Dispersion) lens, resulting in clear sharp images free of chromatic aberration.

Excellent value, great pictures at less than full zoom, excellent macro

Cons:

Slow autofocus, lens barrel rotates when focusing making the use of CP filters a bit tricky

I originally purchased this lens as my first zoom for my first DSLR. Main reason I gave it up was to step up to L glass. However, financial concerns caused me to have to sell the L. Recently purchased this lens again in the newer Di format. Not much has changed, at least from my limited exposure to the newer product, from the older lens.

However, for the money, both lenses have performed more than admirably. Definitely use the included lens hood for long zoom pictures or light intrusion will be a problem. Keeping the lens down to less than 250mm will keep the issues at bay.

All in all, considering this lens is 1/3 the price of the Canon 70-200mm F/4L that I had before, this is an excellent value and will do really well for anyone on a budget. Highly recommended for the price range.

Sep 15, 2006

six100OfflineImage Upload: Off

Registered: Apr 7, 2006Location: ArgentinaPosts: 0

Review Date: Jun 25, 2006

Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 8

Pros:

Range. Cheap. In general it is a good perfomer (for the price you have to pay for it, of course).

Cons:

CA. Cheap build.

This was my first lens back when I switched from compact "point and shoot" cameras to SRLs so the quality of the pictures I took with it where very nice (compared to the ones I could get with a P&S Camera) and the results exiting.

All in all the lens is great for what you pay. Image quality is very acceptable and the range is very usefull.

On the down side: lots of chromatic aberration and very cheap build, but for 150 bucks that is more than acceptable.

Jun 25, 2006

radiodenverOfflineImage Upload: Off

Registered: Apr 4, 2006Location: United StatesPosts: 490

Review Date: Jun 14, 2006

Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $180.00
| Rating: 7

Pros:

Works great on a full-frame (5D). Very affordable. Decent macro results.

Cons:

A little soft on the long end, but hey...for the price it's better than anything else on the market short of L glass.

When I purchased my 5D, it didn't expect this lens to get much use. After a few weeks, I pulled it out of the bag, slapped'r on the camera and did a few test shots. Wow...it worked great. Very little vignetting, decent sharpness, very little distortion. I couldn't believe that a lens that costs less than $200 would work so well on this camera. The build quality is not bad, it's easy to operate. The only thing I wish about this lens was that it was a little sharper at the long end and it could be even better if it were faster. The results though are quite usable, and the sweet spot on the 5D works out to be between f10-f13, so for a walk around daylight lens it's as good as anything on the market. At lower fstops, it gets a little soft also. On a tripod or monopod, the results are very good. Not great in low light.

Jun 14, 2006

s3vdwOfflineImage Upload: Off

Registered: Jun 7, 2006Location: United KingdomPosts: 0

Review Date: Jun 7, 2006

Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 8

Pros:

Great Price, great starter

Cons:

So far so good

I've just stepped over from Kodak Z7590 to Canon EOS 350D (also known as Rebel XT in US) and was delighted to have been offered to purchase this Zoom lens for 50% of the going price. Now I'm sure that the prices are a lot more in the UK than in the USA, but I was happy and went for it. Afterall the Canon itself only came with a smaller 18-55MM lens.

I've now had a few days to play with the new camera and got really stuck into it - got a 6 month old daughter and she's a perfect subject even with the zoom lens - and especially the macro facility.

Loving it, loving it, loving it... I'm dying to go on holiday to the Alps or something to give it a real tester, but I'm in no hurry to upgrade and am happy with my purchase. I'm sure it will give me the bug even more and I'll want to splash out on an upgrade to this, but after using it and reading some of the reviews of people who have compared to the more expensive Canon lenses (not talking about the L ones, because they must be special at that price) I'm happy to recommend this to anyone in my position, moving over to digital SLR...

Happy Snapping!

Jun 7, 2006

xxxrrOfflineImage Upload: Off

Registered: Feb 18, 2006Location: ItalyPosts: 391

Review Date: Feb 18, 2006

Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10

Pros:

Exceptional quality for the prize.
If it costs $700 would be ever a best buy.

I bought it because in that moment I have no budget, but now I am in love with it and don't wat to change with anyone else.

I am in love why the colour are fantastic, and after a little postprocessing large prints are fantastic.
I have other lens, like you can see in my signature, great lens, but with my great surprise when I choose to print 70% of pictures are from Tamron... Only because it's telephoto?

The images are also sharp, poor vignetting with full frame, and AF is very fast and accurate.
At Olympic Games Torino 2006, Speed Skating, with AF Sport of my EOS 5D the AF was very fast and accurate... Fantastic !!!

Feb 18, 2006

The1OfflineImage Upload: Off

Registered: Jan 12, 2006Location: AustraliaPosts: 277

Review Date: Feb 16, 2006

Recommend? |
Price paid: $340.00

Pros:

great price, down to 70mm

Cons:

does hunt sometimes

i bought this lens for $340AU brand new, great performer for the price, little soft at 300mm but better than canon's 100-300 and gives better range being 70-300, images are quite sharp at f8 f11 in good lighting with fast shutter speeds, for the price this lens can't be beat. Obviously no comparison to a L lens

Feb 16, 2006

The1OfflineImage Upload: Off

Registered: Jan 12, 2006Location: AustraliaPosts: 277

Review Date: Feb 5, 2006

Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 8

Pros:

price, good sharpness even at 300mm

Cons:

slow af sometimes is a pain, but not to bad.

for the price i would highly recomend this lens to anyone, sharpness and quality in the images are great, at 300mm it's still better than canon's 90-300 or 100-300mm from what ive compaired, slow autofocus is a pain sometimes but overall can't complain for the price. for the price you can't go wrong.

Feb 5, 2006

kitiongiOfflineImage Upload: Off

Registered: Nov 27, 2005Location: United StatesPosts: 0

Review Date: Dec 26, 2005

Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $189.00
| Rating: 10

Pros:

produces super sharp images!!! great value for ti's price.

Cons:

hunts in low light situations when using AF. (use the manual mode and you'll eliminate those problems like the AF noise)

This lens is a super performer. I'm a solid canon lens fanatic. i only used canon brands lens like 24mm, 50 f1.8, 28-105mm and 17-40L. i recently bought a 70-210mm fo my long range use until i tried this tamrom 70-300mm LD out of curiosity after reading a lot of reviews (and after i spoke with one of my PRO advertising photoghrapher friend)

The Tamron 70-300 really outperforms it's counterparts like the EF75-300mm, 100-300mm with or without USM, and the IS version. It actaually almost equalled the 70-210mm that i have in terms of optics but not in speed which the tamron is lacking, but using the manual mode it can compete head to head with the best lens out there. What really inspire me to write a review about this lens is after i saw the results taken from this lens. Before, honestly i don't go with third party lens.

This tamron is also sharp when used on macro, with slight softness at 300mm but acceptable ( but use a CABLE remote button you'll produce a super sharp image even in 300mm.)

It's an excellent third party lens, and as stated, outperforms brand lenses 2-5 times the price. I'll adopt this lens, canon now has a new found brother!!!

It's definitely a "starter" lens to learn what zoom photography is all about. It's easily light enough to carry about hand held for a day too. The macro is not true macro (only 1:2) but again, as a starter lens, it will give an introduction to that field of photography as well.

You will love this lens for those reasons if you work within those limitations.

You will also one day upgrade as well to some pristine glass, but when you do, you will know exactly what you want & how to get the best out of your new $1000+ lens because of all the training work you did on your $100 consumer Tamron :D

(bought mine in Europe, I'm sure it's cheaper to get in the US somewhere)

Dec 17, 2005

tilliOfflineImage Upload: Off

Registered: Nov 18, 2005Location: GermanyPosts: 0

Review Date: Nov 18, 2005

Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $100.00
| Rating: 7

Pros:

Price, good level of sharpness & color, big zoom range

Cons:

Noisy and slow AF, macro switch sometimes gets stuck, slow, a litte soft on the long end

If you're looking for a tele lens to start with, you can't really go wrong with this one (considering what you get for the bucks). This was my second lens right after the Canon 18-55 kit lens, and it was already a considerable step upwards in terms of image quality. You get very decent pictures from 5.6-6.3 on, especially below 200mm.

Nov 18, 2005

TimSewellOfflineImage Upload: Off

Registered: Oct 18, 2005Location: United KingdomPosts: 20

Review Date: Nov 7, 2005

Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 6

Pros:

Price. Sharp below 200mm. Light. Compact.

Cons:

Slow (aperture). Slow (AF).

I bought this lens having read the reviews here and overall am pretty pleased with it, although until summer comes around again and there's a bit of decent light around I shan't really be able to put it through its paces. As stated above (and in other reviews) the autofocus is about what you'd expect at this price point and I tend to leave it on M focus a lot of the time. It's also a little soft at the long end but with a 1.6 crop camera the long end isn't somewher I need to go that often. All that said, as a stop-gap while saving for something better it's hard to fault this lens.

Nov 7, 2005

camerapapiOfflineImage Upload: Off

Registered: Oct 15, 2002Location: United StatesPosts: 4896

Review Date: Oct 20, 2005

Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $179.00
| Rating: 5

Pros:

cheap, light, sharp

Cons:

slow, not that sharp wide open at 300mm but still acceptable

You get what you pay for. I had a choice between this one and the Nikkor counterpart and I decided to save $200 and I was prepared for the outcome.
It has been a good performer for me, even at 300mm. I really question if the Nikkor is not made by Tamron, they are identical. Image wise, try to find the differences.
Between 70 and 200mm the performance is very good with sharp and contrasty images. Beyond 200 it is a tad soft but still very acceptable. I have used it wide open to shoot flowers and my results have been to my liking. Portraits, in the range of 70-135 are excellent when shot at f8 or f11.
Like all long lenses, the use of a tripod will considerably improve the quality of your shots.
If your budget is tight and you need this lens, go for it. I really do not believe the Nikkor will make a big difference.
For best results, use a tripod and small apertures.
William Rodriguez
Miami, Florida.

Oct 20, 2005

XB70OfflineImage Upload: Off

Registered: Jun 13, 2005Location: United KingdomPosts: 18

Review Date: Oct 16, 2005

Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 9

Pros:

Bang for the buck; well-built; exceptional value for someone starting out

Cons:

Noisy AF *but I sort of like it in a quirky way*, would be better with IS but then, for the money, what can you expect.

I bought this lens to go with a Canon EOS300D and primarily to use at airshows. As I am starting out, I neither had the experience nor the funds to justify some of the lens that you see carried around at shows (at Duxford yesterday, there was one fellow with a lens that I am sure was able to take photographs of the lunar rover on the moon!).

For the money, this is astonishingly good value! Yes, without IS you need a steady hand when it is at 300mm (compensated to some degree by upping the ISO) but then, if you have tried to focus lock on a small object at 650knots that is constantly changing the focus position, you have a hard time before you even consider the lens!

The lens hood is an excellent addition and you certainly look the 'pro' - my wife think it way over the top (wonder what she would make of those Canon L glass 'paparazzi' lens!!) - and it gives great pictures for the money and certainly adds reach.

For airshows though, I think 400mm would be better - not yet investigated multipliers

So what am I saying? Well, it won't give an L glass result but then, it is 1/6th of the price!! Buy this used, stick it on a used 300D (like I have) and you will obliterate any non SLR camera you care to mention for the money spent.

A bargain that I could not recommend highly enough

Oct 16, 2005

RhysOffline[ X ]

Registered: May 5, 2005Location: United StatesPosts: 3578

Review Date: Sep 29, 2005

Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $109.00
| Rating: 10

Pros:

Sharp at all focal lengths. Compact. Comes with a lens hood.

Cons:

Focus ring rotates and is exactly where you want your hand to support the lens! It needs a couple more f-stops extra light. It definitely needs an image stabiliser.

Another secondhand bargain. It's sharp enough given a steady hand or a tripod. Handheld can be problematic and as I said before it does need an image stabiliser. Care must be taken not to hold it by the focus ring, which rotates when the lens focuses.

The macro switch can be tricky to operate. I had a heck of job to get it to switch out of macro and had to take the lens off the camera before I managed it. The focus motor is the loudest I have ever heard and it's certainly slow at focussig. Macro mode is disappointing but then if you want macro you want a macro converter or a proper macro lens anyway.

It's a good lens if you can't afford an f2.8 zoom. If you can afford better then buy it. Otherwise this is a wonderful lens that nobody should be without.

Sep 29, 2005

DMBrowerOfflineImage Upload: Off

Registered: Jul 13, 2005Location: United StatesPosts: 78

Review Date: Sep 23, 2005

Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $185.00
| Rating: 8

Pros:

Nice and sharp for the price paid

Cons:

Slower AF

I bought this because I am on a budget and just getting in to photography. I will say that I am more than happy with what I got for my money. A friend of mine has the Sigma equivalent of this lens and I don't see it being much of a comparison. It is much sharper and build better than the Sigma. The only battle it loses is in speed. The AF on this lens is the only real complaint I have.

I've had one of these lenses on my 20D for around a year or so up until recently purchasing a Canon 200mm 'L' lens.

I'd say this Tamron is a great first zoom lens for the money. It gives lots of zoom for a low price and deliver good pictures. It's light and easy to carry around, and you won't pull your hair out if you break or lose it. Not something to use if the lighting isn't very bright and you need to watch out for CA, especially on chrome bumpers/grilles etc.

Nice how it came with a big hood to help flaring, overall it seems to work well with 20D. I recommended it because it has earned me money from weekend photo gigs and is fun and easy to use.